The Montreal Canadiens will try to rebound from their disappointing 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers as they get ready to face the Buffalo Sabres tonight. The narrative was similar, Florida scored the first goal of the game in midway through the opening period and the Canadiens had difficulty regaining any momentum that it had. The Panthers are too good of a team now that they will take advantage of their opportunities such as they did on their first goal when Andrei Markov got tangled with a referee in the Panthers zone which led to a 4 on 2 and a pretty tic-tac-toe scoring play with Vincent Trocheck getting the goal. The lone goal scorer for the Canadiens was none other than Alex Galchenyuk who continues to be the best thing about the the Habs these days.
The Canadiens have to face facts that they simply do not have enough top six talent or potential prospects to fill the void. Their top 6 when healthy is weak as it is as they are still missing at least 2 players from the puzzle. Paul Byron and Torrey Mitchell are not the answer. I would much prefer it if Charles Hudon had stayed up with the club and that the Canadiens give Bud Holloway another chance as well. We already know that Byron/Mitchell are not goal scorers. The Canadiens might as well give Holloway a shot before most likely losing him to free agency in the off-season. Or the Canadiens could have Michael McCarron as a right winger on the second line for now. It certainly seems as though they are pegging him as next year's 3rd line center but what is the rush to make him a center when they took so long with Galchenyuk?
While much has been made over Renaud Lavoie's article claiming that inside sources fully expect Michel Therrien to be back behind the Canadiens bench next season, GM Marc Bergevin told reporters not to believe everything they read. My take on the situation is that Bergevin will likely bring Therrien back but he will be on a short leash. Therrien is his guy unless he has his eye on a coach that becomes available and he does not want the opportunity to lose out on that said coach. Bergevin wants to give Therrien the opportunity to coach a healthy team. However, I would not be surprised if some of his assistants lose their jobs in the off-season to try to inject new and fresh ideas. As well, Bergevin must look in the mirror and do a better job of providing Therrien with the right assets and fulfill the Canadiens needs.
Reinforcements are finally are ready as Lars Eller and Nathan Beaulieu have gotten the green light to play tonight in Buffalo. Darren Dietz has been returned to St. John's and Stefan Matteau will sit out against the Sabres. Lucas Lessio has been outplaying Matteau and looks like he might find himself battling for one of the final spots out of training camp next year. His physicality has been a welcome addition and he is creating scoring chances, something Matteau has not really done since his arrival at the trade deadline. Ben Scrivens gets the start in goal.
Puck drops tonight at 7pm.
Cheers and enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler